Commando (1985) Biography, Plot, Box office, Filming
Commando (1985)
Commando is a 1985 American action film directed by Mark L. Lester and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Alyssa Milano, Vernon Wells, Bill Duke and Dan Hedaya. The film was released in the United States on October 4, 1985. The film was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Special Effects but lost to Back to the Future. The film’s score was provided by James Horner. A commercial success, Commando was the 7th-highest-grossing R-rated film of 1985 worldwide, and the 25th-highest-grossing overall. Commando was a box office success grossing over $57.5 million against a $9 million budget. The film debuted at number one on the weekend of October 4–6, 1985 in the United States and spent three consecutive weeks at the top position
Plot:
Retired United States Army Special Forces Colonel John Matrix is informed by his former superior Major General Franklin Kirby that all the other members of his former unit have been killed by unknown mercenaries. The mercenaries, among them Bennett, an ex-member of Matrix’s team discharged for excessive violence, attack Matrix’s secluded mountain home and kidnap his young daughter, Jenny. While trying to intercept them, Matrix is overpowered and abducted by the mercenaries. He is taken before their commander, Arius, a former South American dictator Matrix removed from power.
Arius blackmails Matrix into carrying out a political assassination in his home country of Val Verde, where he wishes to lead a military coup. With Jenny’s life on the line, Matrix seemingly agrees to fulfill the demand. After boarding a plane, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 operated by Western Airlines from Los Angeles International Airport to Val Verde, Matrix manages to kill his guard and jumps from the plane just as it is taking off.
Casting, Filming:
Vernon Wells was the first choice to be cast as Captain Bennett, mostly because of his role in Mad Max 2 (1981). Mark L. Lester stated that Wells was “the only one that could have played against him [Schwarzenegger]”. He further added Bennett was “in love with Matrix but he hated him, too. He wanted to kill him but he was in love with him. Principal photography began on April 22, 1985, and wrapped on June 6, 1985 after 45 days of filming. The film was shot on location in California. San Nicolas Island off the coast of Santa Barbara, to which Matrix flies to rescue his daughter, was filmed on the Pacific coast at San Simeon.
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